


How to be a Hero in 6 Easy Steps

by Cadaverriffic



Series: Calculus and Cataclysms [2]
Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-05
Updated: 2017-01-24
Packaged: 2018-09-06 18:30:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8764285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cadaverriffic/pseuds/Cadaverriffic
Summary: Professor Stein wants his students to pay attention for once. Jax wants to play football.Mick just wants to see them light on fire.





	1. Self-Sacrifice and You

"What makes a hero?"

Martin Stein turned away from the whiteboard to look around the classroom. His students didn't seem to be taking his lecture very seriously.

Leonard was lounging with his feet up on his desk, staring up at the ceiling. Mick was staring intently at something cupped in his hands-probably a small fire. Rip was reorganizing his folder _again_ (didn't he just do that last week?) while, unbeknownst to him, Sara inserted pieces of paper, which no doubt had inappropriate images on them, into his pile of unsorted notes.

In the next row, Kendra and Carter were sitting together, heads touching, whispering into each other's ears. At the front of the class, Ray was focused on writing something down in his notebook.

Ignoring the odd sensation of something buzzing in his chest, Martin began again.

"Is a hero defined by their abilities? Their image? Or, are they defined by something _more_?" He looked over at Leonard, still lounging, his eyes now closed.

"Mister Snart," he said, hoping to perhaps catch the cool, aloof young man off-guard, "What would you say defines a hero?"

Leonard didn't even bother to lift his head. "Their ability to be _colossal idiots_ ," he drawled.

"Interesting," said Martin, "Why do you say that?"

"Because why the _hell_ should I stick my neck out for a total stranger?" This time, Leonard abandoned his reclining position and sat up in his chair. "None of them would do the same for me."

"Yeah," said Ray, turning around to look at Leonard, "But that's what makes you a hero. Doing the right thing even at a personal cost. It's... you know, _heroic_."

"It's _idiotic_."

"Now, now," Stein said, interrupting them, "Raymond, that's just the answer I was looking for." If it were physically possible for human beings to emit sunlight, then Ray would have blinded the entire class with his smile.

"As for _you_ , Mister Snart," said Martin, turning back to the whiteboard, "You are under no obligation to become a hero after you leave here."

Leonard turned his eyes away from his teacher. "Tell that to everyone else at this school," he muttered.

He finished writing on the board and turned back to the class. Kendra's arm was extended, somewhat tentatively. "Yes, Miss Saunders?"

Kendra lowered her hand. "Professor Stein, for a _science teacher,_ you seem to have a _lot_ to say about being a superhero."

"Yeah," said Sara, stuffing a final page of phallic symbols into Rip's notebook, "No offence or anything, but wouldn't it make more sense for us to learn this stuff from, I don't know, a _real_ superhero?"

"Who said I _wasn't_ a real superhero?" Martin regretted those words the moment they left his mouth

If any of his students hadn't been paying attention before, that wasn't a problem now; there were seven sets of eyes locked onto him. He now had everyone's full attention.

"You're kidding," said Leonard, his facade of indifference crumbling just the slightest amount, " _You?_ "

"What's that supposed to mean?" Martin asked.

"I think he means," Rip said, casting a sidelong glare at Sara as he tore up a picture of dickbutt, "You're not particularly, _well_..."

"You're about as threatening as Sara's cat," Mick finished. Sara's cat was about twenty-two years old, blind, declawed, and missing most of his teeth.

Now Martin was getting irritated. "I'll have you know," he said, "That I once saved this very city from being wiped out by a rogue asteroid," Really, the asteroid would only have wiped out a couple of blocks, but they didn't need to know that.

"How?" Said Carter, leaning forward ever so slightly.

"Did you destroy it with your _laser vision?_ " Leonard asked flatly. His legs were back up on his desk.

Martin scowled. "No, Leonard, I did not use my 'laser vision'," he said, using finger quotes, "I simply flew up to the asteroid before it could hit the Earth's surface, then transmuted it into harmless nitrogen gas." He folded his arms. "You are welcome."

"Holy _shit_ you're Firestorm."

Everyone's heads whipped around to look at Mick, who was staring, wide-eyed, at the Professor. The buzzing in Martin's chest suddenly intensified.

"That is correct, Mister Rory-" Martin sighed, "-though I can't say I approve of your language. I am-or rather, up until a few years ago, I _was_ Firestorm."

"Why'd you stop?" Mick was never this interested in class discussions. Even Leonard was giving him a strange look, confused by his sudden interest in their teacher's career.

"I was firestorm," Martin repeated, "Or, more accurately, I was _half_ of Firestorm." The buzzing had grown into a low rumbling. Martin leaned on the board for support. "My colleague, Ronald, and myself were caught in an accident some years ago."

"The particle accelerator," said Ray. Everyone knew about the explosion of the particle accelerator twelve years ago. Many students at the school developed their powers years later as a result of the explosion.

"Yes," he said, the rumbling growing stronger by the minute, "The explosion forced us together into one being. When we were in this form, we had abilities far greater than any normal human."

"Let me guess," said Leonard, "Ol' Ronnie didn't make it?"

Martin lowered his head. "No. He died three years ago, saving the city."

"So now you can't be Firestorm anymore?" Asked Mick. He seemed visibly deflated by the news.

"No, Mister Rory," Martin shook his head. "I cannot."

The room descended into an uncomfortable silence for several seconds. Finally, Martin took a deep breath and cleared his throat.

" _Now then_ ," He said, "I think we've gone off-topic long enough, haven't we?" He moved away from the board. "So what-"

His question was cut off by a horrible pain in his chest, as if something was trying to rip its way out. Martin fell to his knees and cried out in pain. He was vaguely aware of someone calling out his name. Kendra? It sounded like Kendra.

The world flashed blue, then faded to black.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is, the next part of my AU. It's not perfect, but for what it is, I'm happy with it. Any feedback is appreciated!


	2. Science and Stability

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dinah closed her eyes and sighed. "Can't ever just be easy, can it?"

"Here we are," said Mrs. Lance as the dark blue Corolla pulled into the hospital parking lot. She exited the car, followed by Sara, Rip, Ray, and finally, Mick. Rip and Ray each held a card in their hand, while Sara held two cards and a balloon. Mick held nothing, as Mrs. Lance had ruled that, while at the hospital, Mick was not allowed to carry anything that could potentially catch fire.

"Thanks for the drive, mom," said Sara, as the group walked slowly to the entrance.

"Not a problem, sweetie," her mother replied, "I was on my way here anyway. I happen to know Martin. We worked together once or twice, back in the day."

Sara blinked. "Seriously? You never mentioned that before,"

Mrs. Lance waved her hand. "He's retired. A lot of people don't want to talk about the old days once they're over." She looked off into the distance. "Sometimes it's just... Too painful." The five lapsed into silence as they made their way up the stairs, towards the metahuman wing.

"...Do you think he's going to be okay?" Sara asked after a moment.

"He burst into _flames_ , Sara," said Rip, "That's not usually an indication that someone is going to be _okay_."

Micks eyes were glazed over. "Oh yeah," he said, dreamily, "That was _beautiful_." His four companions looked at him in disbelief.

"Mick," Ray said, finding his voice again, "Pretty sure that was him _dying_."

"I know that!" Mick said, raising his hands defensively, "It's just, he was lit up, like, like Firestorm, but it was _blue_! It was like, _Blue Firestorm_!" He said excitedly. " _So cool!_ "

Everyone else was silent for a moment, not sure how to respond. Once again, it was Sara who broke the silence.

"...It _did_ look pretty cool." She mumbled.

" _Sara_!" Her mother admonished.

"What? You weren't there!"

The group continued to navigate the hospital until they reached the meta wing. Outside of one of the rooms was a middle-aged man. He was talking to an older woman, and a girl who looked to be around seven or eight. The little girl was crying; the woman looked on the verge of tears.

"Ted!" Mrs. Lance called, making her way towards the man. He pulled his attention away from the two to greet the newcomers.

"Dinah!" He said, with a tired, but still genuine, smile. He pulled her into a hug. "How've you been?"

"I've been great," she said. She gestured to Sara. "You remember my daughter, Sara?"

"I do," he said, "Good to see you, Sara. How's school?"

"School's good," Sara replied. "Uh, my friends and I are actually in Professor Stein's class." She motioned towards the rest of their party. "Everybody, this is Ted Kord, AKA the Blue Beetle. Ted, this is Mick, Ray, and-" she stopped. "Wait, where's Rip?"

The five looked around. Rip, who had been with them when they entered the meta wing, was now nowhere to be found.

"He's probably fine," Ray said.

"Yeah," Mick added. "He probably just went to go get... I don't know, tea or something. Whatever British people do."

A sob from the little girl pulled them back to more pressing events.

"Ah. Right," Ted cleared his throat. "This is Clarissa and Lily Stein, The Professor's family." He turned to the three students. "Would you three mind taking Lily outside for a bit? We need to talk to her mother alone for a minute."

"No problem," said Sara. She moved to kneel down in front of the little girl. "Hi, Lily, my name's Sara." Lily sniffled and looked up at the older girl. "I'm one of your dad's students. Would you like to go for a walk with us?"

"You go to the superhero school," Lily said, wiping away her tears on her sleeve. "Does that mean you have _superpowers_?" She asked, her eyes wide.

Sara glanced up at Ray. His apologetic shrug told her that he had left his atom suit at home. "Uh... no," she said. Lily's face fell. "But... but Mick does!"

Lily looked up at Mick with awe. " _Really?_ " She asked.

"Yeah!" Sara said, getting more confident. "Would you like him to show you?"

"Yes!" Said Lily and Mick in unison.

"Great! If we go _outside_ ," She looked at Mick as she stressed ' _outside_ ', "Then we can show you," she turned to the girl's mother. "If it's alright with you," she said hurriedly.

Clarissa smiled weakly. "That sounds fine," she said. "Just be careful."

It was hard to tell who looked more excited, Lily or Mick. Ray and Sara handed the cards and balloon over to Clarissa, and the four made their way out the wing doors and towards the exit.

Just then, a man with a clipboard walked out of Martin's room. He wore a white lab coat with a name tag that read, "Jason Rusch, M.D." Clarissa stood up.

"Are you Mrs. Stein?" The man asked.

"I am," she said. "Do you know what's wrong with my husband?"

Dr. Rusch blew a gust of air out of his cheeks. "It seems that your husband is suffering from molecular destabilization," he looked down at his clipboard, "Which he last suffered... three years ago?

Clarissa shook her head. "Y-yes, but, that's _impossible_ ," she said, "The device that the doctors gave him stopped him from destabilizing! He's never had a problem since-" Ted put a hand on her shoulder.

"It's possible that the generator wasn't preventing the destabilization, just slowing the process," he said gently, "His molecules have probably been slowly losing their stability over the last few years."

Clarissa buried her face in her hands. "Oh god," she said.

She took a moment to collect herself. "So what do we do now?"

"We find someone new for Professor Stein to fuse with," said Dr. Rusch.

"Easier said than done," said Ted, "Seven billion people in the world, how many people have the _exact_ metahuman mutation that we're looking for? That's like finding a microscopic needle in a haystack the size of Mount Rushmore."

"Well, Mister Kord," Dr. Rusch said, "It looks like fate is smiling down on Professor Stein."

" _You're kidding_ ," Ted said incredulously, leaning over to look at the doctor's clipboard, "There's _no way_ that you found-"

"I _did_ ," he said triumphantly, "Mister Jefferson Jackson. Healthy, blood type's a perfect match, he even lives close by."

"I sense a 'but' coming on," said Dinah, folding her arms. Dr. Rusch passed the clipboard containing Jackson's file to Ted, who quickly read through it.

Ted lowered the clipboard and looked at the two women. "...He's _twelve_ ," he said.

"He's also our best shot," said Dr. Rusch, "Without a new partner, Professor Stein won't make it more than..." he paused. "A few days, at most."

Clarissa let out a long, shuddering sigh. Dinah closed her eyes and sighed. "Can't ever just be _easy_ , can it?"

Ted put a hand on Clarissa's shoulder. "We can at least ask him," he said, "And his parents. Who knows, they might say yes." He smiled. "I mean, come on, what kind of kid would pass up the chance to be a real _superhero?_ "

 


	3. Dying to Meet You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jax was never really a fan of superheroes.

_And Mulaney passes it to Anderson-_  
_-Anderson passes it to Jackson-_  
_-And Jackson goes down the centre line-_  
_-But number nineteen's on his tail-_  
_-A missed tackle by number twenty-seven-_  
_-He speeds towards the end zone-_  
_-He's almost made it-_  
_-Touchdown!_  
_And there goes the buzzer!_  
_There you have it folks! The Super Bowl is won with a spectacular last-minute touchdown by none other than Jefferson Jackson!_  
_Listen to that crowd!_  
_Jax! Jax! Jax! Jax_!

_Jax! Jax?_

"Jefferson!"

Jax blinked. His daydream had vanished, along with the cheering crowd. In his hands, he held his football, so old and beat up that it looked like it could fall apart at any moment.

"Jefferson!" His mother called again from the doorway. "Get in here! There's some people here that want to see you!"

Jax dropped his football and ran inside. _Someone was here to see him? Who could it be? Maybe it was about football!_ It couldn't be a scout; he was too young, but he had heard of people being granted bursaries for sports camps if they were good enough. And Jax was pretty sure he was good enough.

It wasn't just him being egotistical; everyone, from his coaches, to his teammates, to other parents, said that he had the potential to make it to the big leagues. Ever since he had seen his first football game when he was four, he had known that football was what he wanted to do. When he was out on the field, making a pass, a tackle, running for the end zone, that was when he felt the most alive. No matter whether his team left in victory or in defeat, Jax always left the game with a feeling of elation.

He walked into the living room, where his mother was waiting with the visitors. One look at them confirmed that they were most certainly _not_ here about football.

Two men and one woman stood in Jax's living room.

The woman and the man on the left looked about his mother's age; maybe a bit older.

The man had brown hair, glasses, and wore a suit with an impressively hideous tie. The woman, who had dark, wavy hair, seemed to have much better taste, wearing a white blouse and knee-length skirt beneath her overcoat.

The other man looked much older than either of them. His face was covered in age spots and wrinkles, and he had a large scar curving from the corner of his left eye down to just below his jawbone. On the left breast of his military uniform were dozens of medals of different shapes and sizes. Jax got the impression that this was not a man to be messed with.

The three looked quite out of place to Jax in his mother's tiny, cozy living room. They also seemed very familiar, somehow.

"Hi!" Said the younger man, "You must be Jax." He extended his hand, which Jax tentatively shook. "It's wonderful to meet you." He gestured to his companions. "This is Dinah Lance, and Commander Henry Heywood."

At hearing their names, Jax suddenly remembered why they seemed so familiar. The older man was Commander Steel; Jax had seen him in countless movies in history class. The woman was Black Siren; Jax had seen her on TV and pasted inside the locker doors of many of his friends.

Jax had seen Mr. Kord in his superhero persona, the Blue Beetle, on several episodes of " _G. Gordon Godfrey's Superhero Fails_ ". Unlike on TV, however, he was not joined by his Gold-clad friend.

What was his name? _Gooster_ or something?

"Jax," said his mother, "These people would like to ask you something."

 

* * *

 

"...And that's pretty much the whole story," finished Mr. Kord, looking at Jax. "Do you have any other questions?"

Jax inhaled slowly. He put his hands together and brought them up to his face.

" _Okay_ ," he said finally, "To recap: I have some kind of superpowers. You want me to use these powers to... ' _fuse_ ' with some dude I've never even _met_ and become a superhero." He lowered his hands. "Not only that, but you want me to quit my school and go to your fancy private school for superheroes."

The three visitors looked at each other. "...Well, when you put it like _that_ -" Ted started.

Jax looked to his mother. "Mom, how are you okay with this!?"

"They've offered to pay for the whole thing," she said, looking at Mrs. Lance, "And you'd get a much better education there than you would at public school," She waved a brochure in her hand. "Of course, it's up to you whether or not you want to go."

Jax looked at the three other adults. "Forget it," he said, "I don't want anything to do with this superhero stuff."

Mr. Kord looked like he was about to argue, but whatever he was going to say was silenced by Mrs. Lance placing a hand on his shoulder. Dejected, the two turned to leave.

"Hold on."

Everyone looked at Commander Steel, who had not spoken since they had arrived. He was looking directly at Jax.

"Alright son," he said, "Listen carefully, because I'm going to give you the _facts_." He crouched down until he was eye-level with the boy.

"Right now, Professor Stein is _dying_ ," he said, "And he's only going to get worse unless we find someone who can fuse with him and stabilize his molecules. You are the _only_ person in the immediate area who can do this. If you don't, his chances of survival go from 'very good' to 'almost nonexistent'."

The man spoke calmly and evenly, as if he was telling Jax the weather forecast for tomorrow, rather than that he had to make a life-or-death decision.

" _Henry_ -" Mrs. Lance began.

" _No_." The Commander cut her off before she could go any further. "If he's going to make this decision, he needs to know _exactly_ what's on the line." He turned back to Jax.

"Listen, son," he said, lowering his voice just slightly, "You aren't obligated to do anything. You already know what'll happen if you say yes; I just want to make sure you know what will happen if you say _no_." With that, he stood back up and turned towards the door.

"Our contact info's on the card we gave your mother. Call us if you happen to change you mind in the next..." He looked at Mr. Kord. " _Day_   _or_   _so_?" The other man nodded.

"No need."

The trio turned around. Jax was standing tall, looking directly at the Commander, a kind of nervous intensity in his eyes.

"I'll do it," he said, his voice shaking just a bit, " _I'll_ _become_ _Firestorm_."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alternative title: The Author knows nothing about football.


	4. Schooled

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Being the new kid is hard.  
> Being the new kid at a school for metahumans, as it turns out, is even harder.

Two weeks later, Jax found himself standing outside of the C.W. Nicholson School for Exceptional Students.

The merge with Professor Stein had gone fine; at least in the sense that nothing had blown up or caught fire. The doctors had assured that the two were both in perfect health, and in seconds Jax was caught up in a hug from the Professor's wife and daughter.

Jax wasn't quite sure what to make of his new partner yet. The man was opinionated, overconfident, and long winded; however, Jax could sense that he was, at his centre, a truly kind, considerate person.

As in, _literally_ , he could sense it.

One thing that everyone had neglected to tell him about was the psychic bond that had begun to form between him and the Professor since they had merged for the first time. It wasn't too jarring; just a tiny, ghost of a feeling, an inkling of what his counterpart might be feeling.

Still, it would have been a nice piece of information to know beforehand.

Jax pried himself away from his thoughts and stared up at the building; to say it was big would be an understatement. Although the school had less than fifty students at the present time, as there were only so many young metahumans in the general area, it could probably hold hundreds more.

Out of the corner of his eye, Jax saw a red and blue streak whiz by. He blinked. What was that? It looked too big to be a bird. Maybe a low-flying plane? Jax shook his head. He'd been here all of five minutes and he was already starting to see things.

He looked back towards the school and saw three people walking towards him.

"Hi!" Said a boy with sandy brown hair, "You must be Jax." He shook his hand. "I'm Carter Hall, I'll be your student liaison." He gestured to his two companions, a tall boy with dark hair and a dark-skinned girl with blonde-streaked hair. "These are-"

He was cut off by the tall boy. "Ray Palmer," the boy said, cheerfully, "I'll be your roommate!"

"...And I'm Kendra Saunders," the girl said, looking at Ray with amusement. "I'm his girlfriend." Jax looked between Ray and Kendra.

"Oh!" Said Ray, noticing Jax's assumption, "Uh- Carter's. She's dating Carter," he said, noticeably flustered, "Not me."

"Well Jax," said Carter, brushing off his friend's awkwardness, "Let me welcome you, on behalf of the students and staff, to the C.W.!"

"Or, as we here call it, the _CWNSES_ ," said Ray, pronouncing the anagram like quinn-cess.

"Does anyone actually call it that aside from you?" Asked Kendra.

"No," admitted Ray, "But just wait. It'll catch on."

Jax doubted that he would be hearing anyone other than Ray call it the _CWNSES_ anytime soon.

"Well, Jax, now that the introductions are out of the way, we can give you the tour and then show you to your room." Carter looked over to Kendra. "Babe, could you get his things?"

"Sure," said Kendra, stooping down to pick his belongings up off the ground. Jax was surprised by the ease with which she lifted the two large suitcases.

"Let's go," Said Carter.

If Jax thought that the outside of the school was impressive, he was blown away by the inside. The main foyer was enormous, with a large glass ceiling above several benches and decorative plants. In the middle of the room there was a large metal structure that looked a bit like a tall, gnarled tree. There was a large staircase at the back wall, which lead up to the second floor.

"So, here we have the main foyer," said Carter, leading the group in through the doors.

"To your left, you'll see the main office," he pointed to a smaller room a few feet away from the entrance, "And on the right is the nurses office. And next to that," he said, leading them down the hallway to the right, "is the security office." As they passed, Jax peered inside the office. Most of the room was taken up with what looked like a large, glass tank.

Noticing what Jax was looking at, Ray leaned towards him. "For when the _time-out chair_ doesn't cut it," he said. Jax took a deep breath and slowly, silently let it out as they turned the corner.

"And these are the science labs," Carter continued, as they passed by a set of closed doors labelled "Chem Lab", "Bio Lab", and so on. They looked a lot like the ones in Jax's old school, if much newer. _Good_ , he though, _at least some things are universal._

They passed by the Guidance counsellor's office next. Through the open door, Jax could see a comically large red-and-black mallet resting on the couch. He decided not to ask.

They passed through a set of glass double-doors into the student lounge.

"And _here_ ," said Carter, leading the group through the lounge and up a staircase, "are the dorms."

Jax took his bags back from Kendra and let Ray lead him through the hallway. They stopped at the room labelled 204. There was a small whiteboard hanging on the door, with the name " _Ray_ " written on it in dry-erase marker. Someone else had used the same marker to write " _^is a nerd_ " directly below it.

"Here we are!" Said Ray. "My room. Oh, wait!" He said, using the back of his sleeve to erase " _^is a nerd_ ". He seemed unbothered by the vandalism of his sign, as if he had become accustomed to it. He unclipped his marker from the side of the whiteboard and wrote " _& Jax_ " below his own name. " _Our_ room," he said.

Satisfied with his handiwork, he fished a small plastic card from his pocket and inserted it into a slot next to the door handle. Jax heard a beep, and then a click. Ray turned the handle and let them both in.

The room was fairly small, but cozy. There was a bunk bed in the corner, and two desks sitting side by side on the far wall. There was a large pile of electronic pieces on both.

"Sorry about the mess," said Ray, "I'll have it cleaned up by tonight."

After Jax had laid his things on the top bunk, (Ray insisted that he preferred the bottom bunk better anyhow) they left the room and rejoined Cater and Kendra, who had taken a seat against the wall and were currently sitting together in a way that couldn't possibly be comfortable. Ray glanced at his watch.

"Ten to nine," he said, "We should probably head to class."

"Oh, right," said Jax. "I have Professor Stein for homeroom."

"We know," said Kendra, "We all do."

"Come on," Carter called, already by the door, "I'll lead the way."

The four made their way out of the student lounge, back out to the foyer and up the stairs. Carter led them around the corner, past a large window, overlooking a massive crater in the ground.

"What is _that_?" Jax asked. The other three exchanged a look.

"Well," said Kendra, after a tense moment, "It was the track."

Jax swallowed hard.

Finally, they reached Professor Stein's classroom. Jax could hear a conversation going on inside.

"...And then I got to set it on fire!"

"And then _I_ had to put _out_ the fire."

"Ah, Jefferson," said Professor Stein as the four entered the room, "Welcome. I'm sure Mister Hall and company made you feel welcome?" Jax nodded.

"Yeah," he said, "they were great."

"In that case," the Professor said, "allow me to introduce you to the rest of the class. This is-" He was cut off mid-sentence by a small blonde girl.

"Sara Lance," she said, raising her hand in a wave. "You already met my mom."

The wheels in Jax's head turned for a moment before they clicked. _Sara_ Lance. _Dinah_ Lance.

"Your mom's Black Siren!" Sara responded by aiming two finger guns at Jax and winking.

"Bingo." Next, a dishevelled looking boy in a trench coat came forward and shook Jax's hand.

"Rip Hunter," he said. He spoke with a distinct English accent. "A pleasure to meet you, Jefferson." The sound of his full name being spoken caught Jax off-guard.

"It's just Jax, actually." he said. Rip nodded.

"Jax. Right."

"And these two delinquents here," said Sara, gesturing to the two boys seated behind her, "are Mick and Leonard."

The larger of the two boys smiled, in a way that Jax found slightly unnerving.

"I light things on fire," he said. The smaller boy patted him on the shoulder.

"That'll do, Mick."

Jax felt the pit at the bottom of his stomach grow heavier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I live!  
> Seriously though, sorry it took so long to update this. Do I have a good reason? No. I just kind of lost inspiration while the show was on hiatus. But, hey, hopefully the next chapter should be here much sooner.


End file.
